War without end (Ivanova)
by Arya-dragonlover
Summary: What if it wasn't Zathras that was captured on Babylon 4, but instead Ivanova. How would Garibaldi and Sinclair have reacted to finding their friend was captured? How would this have affected the rest of the episode?


**Disclaimer**

The original characters and plot line belongs to those who wrote and created this amazing fictional universe. I do not own any of it. I only own my own characters and plots. Some of the dialoged within this story is identical to the original/canon product. I claim no part of that and its entire purpose is to ensure that the characters stay as canon as possible.

 **Story**

Commander Ivanova lent against the wall and let out a sigh of frustration. She glanced around at the workroom that she and Zathras were in. There were piles of crates stacked along the walls, filled with whatever parts were left over from building the station. The nearby tables were covered with tool boxes which had been searched through for the 'right' tool. Barrels were stacked three high throughout the room, next to plastic covered crates, creating rows which hid Zathras from her sight.

Ivanova wasn't too upset by this as she knew where Zathras was by his continual running commentary.

"No, no. No, no, no. Not good. No, no," Zathras observed as he picked up and put down each tool.

"Come on," Ivanova called out impatiently. "Find what you need, and let's get out of here. We're running out of time."

She heard a ringing thud as Zathras dropped the umpteenth unknown tool on the floor.

"Cannot run out of time," Zathras said in a reassuring tone. "There is infinite time. You are finite. Zathras is finite. This is wrong tool."

Ivanova blinked at the sudden non-sequitur and then sighed as she heard yet another tool connect with floor.

"No," Zathras continued to declare. "Not good. No. No, never use this."

Ivanova pushed herself off the wall and started towards the sounds that were coming from the back of the room. Perhaps this time Zathras would allow her to help with the search for the 'right' tool. The last time that she had tried to help, Zathras had snatched the tool out of her hand and reprimanded her firmly.

"No. Zathras' job. Zathras fix. Zathras find tool. This is wrong tool."

That had been the start of the almost ten minutes of 'wrong tool' commentary that now accompanied Zathras' search. Ivanova wondered if Zathras had even noticed that she wasn't there to see the 'wrong' tools. She doubted it.

As Ivanova was about to turn down the first of the rows created by the stacked crates and barrels, she heard the gentle whir of the door opening. She turned to face the door, wondering which of their companions had come to meet them and why they hadn't used the links to contact them. She was surprised to see five security guards come through the door with their guns out. Her hand instinctively began to slide down towards her own gun, but stilled as she heard the PPGs heat up.

"Who are you?" asked the guard on the furthest left. "What are you doing here and how did you get aboard this station?"

Ivanova remained silent, refusing to answer their questions, but slowly raised her hands to show that she meant no harm. She offered a silent prayer of thanks that Zathras was currently quiet and hoped that he would remain undetected. The commanding security guard frowned at her silence and gestured the PPG towards the door.

"Fine," he said surlily. "If you won't answer me, perhaps you will answer the Major. Now move, slowly, and don't think of trying anything."

As Ivanova moved slowly out of the work room, the five security guards formed up around her and escorted her to the brig.

Zathras held up the 'right' tool and smiled. He started to speak, to tell Commander Ivanova that he had found the right tool, but stopped when he heard an unfamiliar voice. Zathras froze and waited, listening until he heard the door open and shut once more. He listened carefully, to see if anyone had remained. All Zathrases had excellent hearing, and he could only hear his own breathing within the room. Carefully he moved out of the rows of crates and barrels. Seeing no one, he used his communication device to call the White Star.

"We have problem," Zathras reported. "Commander taken by station officers. How long 'til repairs done?"

"A while," Marcus replied. "We may have it in another couple of hours."

"Ttt Ttt Ttt," Zathras tutted. "Too long. Need done faster. Zathras adjust power from central command."

"Great idea, if you can get there," Marcus responded.

"Zathras can do," was the response.

Ivanova leant back in her chair and looked at the closed door regretfully. There were two guards in the cell, standing to attention at the wall behind her. As the door opened, she sat up and watched the Major entered. He had been here earlier asking questions which she had refused to answer. Her eyes widened as she saw who followed him into the room.

"Ah, Hell," she moaned as she saw Sinclair and Garibaldi following the Major.

Sinclair and Garibaldi froze in the door, staring at her.

"Susan?"

"Ivanova?"

Their exclamations were ones of surprise.

"What on Earth are you doing here?" asked Garibaldi.

"You know this woman?" the Major asked in surprise.

"Yes," Sinclair answered. "She is my second in command. Lieutenant Commander Susan Ivanova."

"What the hell are you doing here Ivanova?" asked Garibaldi angrily. "What possessed you to follow us? To abandon your post?"

Ivanova said nothing, her mind raced frantically to come up with a story that was believable, but was drawing a blank.

"Actually we found her before any incoming ship had docked," the Major said, looking at Sinclair and Garibaldi with a new found sliver of doubt.

Sinclair frowned down at Ivanova and said "Well, Lieutenant Commander, you better have a good explanation for this."

There was a moments silence whilst Ivanova decided what to say. She decided that the most important thing was to keep her younger self from finding out anything about this event. On the flight to Babylon 4, she along with everyone else, had been subject to an hour long lecture by Zathras on the dangers of interfering with time. Whilst she had not been able to follow all of it, what with Zathras' speech patterns and some of it being highly technical, she did remember that they were not to try and change past events. As she drew on her memories of the after action reports about the Babylon 4 incident, an explanation of her current situation came to mind.

"I didn't abandon my post. In fact, I am currently in C&C monitoring the situation. Or," she said with a slight pause, "at least my past-self is."

"What are you talking about?" Sinclair inquired. "Your past-self?"

"This me, the me sitting in front of you right now, is a future version of the Susan Ivanova that is currently on Babylon 5. That Susan has no idea about anything that is going on. And," Ivanova paused for emphasis before continuing emphatically, "you CANNOT tell her about any of this."

"Why not?" asked Sinclair.

"Because I don't remember you saying anything about me being here, when you got back from Babylon 4. If you tell past-me anything about my future, it could have catastrophic consequences, resulting in paradoxes. Which, let me tell you, you don't want to happen."

"Then why risk it?" asked Sinclair. "What could be so important that you would risk your career and possibly terrible repercussions to steal a space station?"

"There is a great war coming," Susan explained, explaining the details that she remembers Sinclair telling her back on Babylon 5. "So great that it threatens to plunge the entire galaxy into chaos and darkness. If this war is lost, it is the end of every race on this side of the galactic rim. However, there is still a chance of victory. But in order to achieve it, Babylon 4 must be moved a thousand years through time. The last base of operations was destroyed by the sh… by the enemy. Babylon 4 will become the new base and with it we will be able to drive back the darkness."

"I'm not buying it," Garibaldi challenged. "This supposed war of yours is a 1000 years away, no way that you are involved. So, let's have the truth!"

Ivanova blinked and she received a flash of inspiration. She couldn't tell them the truth, that the war was a thousand years ago, as neither Garibaldi nor Sinclair had known it in her past. So she decided to give an answer that supported Garibaldi's assumption that the war was in the future. And in a way, it was for them. The current shadow war was still a few years in their future and without Babylon 4, that 'future' war would be lost.

"The people who are taking the station needed someone from my time to help anchor themselves to this time as they prepared the station to be moved through time," she lied. "They decided that someone familiar with the Babylon stations would be preferable. They showed me irrefutable proof about their claims, and I decided to help them."

"What proof?" interrogated Garibaldi.

"That I cannot tell you," Ivanova replied. "Just know that it is indisputable."

Sinclair and Garibaldi looked at each other, deciding what to ask next. However, before they could ask anything, the Major interrupted with his own questions.

"And when is your time, Commander?" interrogated the Major. "At what time did you ally yourself against Earth?"

"I am not working against Earth, Major," refuted Ivanova indignantly. "If this does not happen, then Earth is lost, along with the galaxy. And I cannot tell you what year I come from. If you knew, if any of you knew, you might end up changing the course of history and prevent any of this from happening in the first place."

The Major went slightly purple in the face at this comment. "Let's see how well that argument stands up when you are in front of a military tribunal. You and your past-self," he snarled at Ivanova.

"You can't do that," Ivanova stated. "Without the time distortion, having two versions of the same person in the same time, and interacting with each other, could rip apart the fabric of space-time."

Up in C&C, things were tense. The current commanding officer was at his station typing frantically at his command panel. As he typed in the final command, he turned around and faced the rest of the crew on the command deck.

"Okay, everybody, let's get out. We're evacuating the station," the commanding officer said.

"But if we leave- " one of the crew began.

"I set the system on automatic," the commanding officer interrupted. "We can run the entire evacuation from the docking bay. Let's move out."

As the crew filed out of C&C, no one saw Zathras hiding around the corner. Once the command deck was clear, Zathras slipped into C&C and headed straight towards the command station. As he began to adjust power from central command, Zathras began to mutter to himself.

"Is always Zathras who is doing. Everyone always says Zathras do this. Zathras do that. No one ever listens to Zathras. Poor Zathras."

"Major, the space suit man is back!" some unknown security member cried as he burst into the cell.

"Oh, no," the Major moaned.

He, Garibaldi and Sinclair exited the room, following the young security man. Whilst the guards behind her were distracted, Ivanova bolted out of her chair and darted across the room. Dodging to avoid the security guard's grasp, she slipped out of the room before the door closed. She ran down the corridor, skidding to a halt before she ran into the Major, Garibaldi and Sinclair, whom had stopped in the central corridor of Babylon 4. They were looking at the flickering humanoid figure in a blue space suit.

"Here it is again," moaned the Major.

"What the hell?" asked Sinclair in shock.

Ivanova turned around, intending to sneak back down the corridor that she had come down before she could be captured again. However, as she turned, her gaze fell upon a Time Stabiliser that was laying upon a ledge in the wall. 'What the hell is that doing there?' she thought in surprise.

She faintly heard Sinclair say "He's in pain." She turned back to the central corridor and took in the scene in front of her. Sinclair was reaching towards the space suit and when he touched it, there was a blinding flash of light. She watched as Garibaldi and the Major rushed over to Sinclair. Seeing an opportunity, Ivanova passed the trio and ran to her friend. She pressed the Time Stabiliser into his hand and frantically whispered to him, "It's fixed. Take it."

The figure nodded once and faded away. The station shuddered and Ivanova faced the Major and Garibaldi, whom where helping Sinclair to his feet. "You need to go," she said. "The station is about to leave this time, and unless you want to come along for the trip, you need to get out now."

"Not without you," the Major said and grabbed her arm tightly. "I don't care about any paradoxes. I have to answer for this station, and I want proof! Alive or dead, you're the only proof I've got!"

He yanked her harshly after him as he strode towards the shuttle bays. Sinclair and Garibaldi shot uncertain looks at each other, but said nothing. Garibaldi ran ahead of the group, talking over the coms to his security team. As they turned the corner, the station shuddered once again and a support beam fell towards the group. Ivanova jerked out of the Major's grasp and pushed Garibaldi out of the beam's path. However, in doing so, she herself was trapped underneath the heavy metal beam.

"We've got to help her!" Sinclair cried as he stopped and tried to lever the beam off Ivanova.

"It's too late," the Major cried.

"We can't leave her," Sinclair replied indignantly.

"You think I want to?" the Major retorted. "We have to leave now, with or without you!" And with that final statement, the Major turned and left them.

"Commander, you have to leave," Ivanova insisted. She held up her hand to halt his protests. "I remember you returning to Babylon 5. You have to leave. Now!"

"What the hell is going on around here?" demanded Garibaldi as he stuck his head around the corner. "Commander, come on! Come on!"

Sinclair hesitated a moment longer, but at Ivanova's nod, Sinclair left and followed Garibaldi down the corridor. Ivanova cursed quietly under her breath. She had kept the timeline in place, but now she was trapped. She tried in vain to shift the beam, but she could not get the leverage that she needed to lift the beam. Her head fell back onto the floor and she sighed in defeat.

"Ttt Ttt Ttt." Ivanova lifted her head up in surprise at the noise and saw Zathras standing next to her.

"You are in much trouble," Zathras said. "Is good that Zathras is here to help. Like Zathras helped with the Time Stabiliser." As he talked he levered the beam off of Ivanova, allowing her to wiggle free. "But no one ever thanks Zathras."

"Thank you Zathras," said Ivanova. "Thank you for freeing me and thank you for Time Stabiliser. But how did you know where to leave it?"

"Zathras knows. Zathras always knows. Cannot explain. Just does," Zathras replied. He paused for a moment before turning. "Come, Come. Must be hurrying. Is no time." And with that, the pair turned and headed off to meet the rest of the team.

Sinclair and Garibaldi were quiet for the majority of the shuttle ride back to Babylon 5. They were deep in thought, each trying to come to terms with the events that had happened on Babylon 4.

"So," Garibaldi said, interrupting the past two hours of silence, "what are we going to do about Ivanova?"

"Nothing," replied Sinclair. "If what she said is true, then we cannot risk damaging the timelines."

"And if it's not?" asked Garibaldi.

"If it is not, it remains just between the two of us, unless we find something that changes things," Sinclair responded.

"And what about the Major?" asked Garibaldi with slight concern.

"Leave that to me," Sinclair said.

'So," Ivanova asked once they were in the debriefing room, "How did it go?"

"I guess we'll have to wait a thousand years," Garibaldi said with a smirk. "Unless you tell us sooner?"

"What?" asked Ivanova in confusion.

"That's what I want to know," Garibaldi replied.

"Ignore him Susan," said Sinclair. "Now, when we arrived at Babylon 4…"


End file.
